Press Release on plan to tackle Anti Biotic resistance

Mike Hedges AM welcomes plan to tackle antibiotic resistance threat

A new plan to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance has been launched by Welsh Labour’s Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford.

Mike Hedges AM said….. ‘I welcome the news that the Welsh Government is committed to dealing with the threat of illness developing resistance to current antibiotic medication. I have met people from Swansea who have suffered complications from drug resistant strains of infections and have heard first-hand the consequences for these people and their families. We need to be ever vigilante in the fight against diseases for which we think a cure has been found, and this initiative underlines the commitment of the Welsh Government to lead this fight’.

The plan provides the blueprint for coordinated actions at national and local levels reinforcing the need to work together to tackle one of the greatest health threats facing the country. A public consultation on the plan has been launched to give patients, the public, public bodies and others the chance to have their say on the priorities for Wales in tackling resistance.

Key points from the plan include:

• Health boards will      develop plans improve infection prevention plans to eliminate avoidable      healthcare associated infections in hospitals, nursing homes and other      health and social care environments.
• Health boards will      reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and support Antimicrobial      Prescribing Teams to promote prudent antibiotic use.
• The Welsh      Government, through Health and Care Research Wales, will prioritise      research into antimicrobial resistance.
• Public Health Wales      will improve the data surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and develop      an alerts system for real-time identification of resistant organisms.

Within Wales, antimicrobial usage and resistance has been increasing year on year in hospitals in line with the global pattern.  However in the last two years there have been the first signs of a reduction in primary care.